World (Class) Garden

The Furnas valley is actually the remains of a volcanic caldera.  It is approximately 7 km across and for the last 200 years, has been the site of thermal spas and gardens.  Terra Nostra park does contain thermal pools for bathing, but it was not to take the iron rich waters, that I took the 1.5 hr bus ride to Furnas.  Terra Nostra is a park (12.5 hectares) with a collection of world plants to rival any that I have seen. 

It being winter, the ginko baloba avenue was leafless.  There were no waterlilies blooming in the pools.  The tulip trees only had the stubble of flowers on bare stems.  The flower gardens which are artistically designed in summer were brown and plantless.  The bromeliad garden only showed 2 blooms.  The acer palmatum were grey sticks.  Only one magnolia held out a huge pink saucer to be admired.

But the pahutukawa showed their needle-like blooms confirming their other name as the New Zealand Christmas tree.  The cycad collection looked as unplantlike as ever.  The eucalyptus was easily identifiable by the twisted bark and the monkey puzzle was as prickly as any.  The Vireya garden of Malaysian rhododendrons was decked out in colours from white to pink, to orange to purple.

And among the trees as well in their own protected enclosure, the camellias flaunted blossoms in such variety and colour to put all other flowers to shame.  There are more than 600 species and cultivars from all over the world.  I was not the only admirer; there was a constant hum of bees visiting as well. 

Furnas was a stop on a tour that Ian, Duane and I did two years ago, so I had already visited the bubbling pools and sampled the mineral water, but this past weekend was the camellia show.  I was a little skeptical as to how important it was to see the blooms in the local casino building (just an exhibition hall).  With just a one euro admission, my expectations sank even lower and when the first room I entered had nothing but vendors selling everything from tarts to fishscale ear rings, I almost turned and left.  But nothing prepared me for the display in the center room.  There were 6 huge planters, each with a live, flowering camellia in the center and then dozens of labeled blooms stuck in the volcanic gravel around it.  I went around, time and time again, trying to take in all the nuances in petal form, stamen configuration, sizes, colour variegation, and even scents.  At the front of the room was a wall fountain with some of the most unique flowers displayed on a ledge or floating in the pool.  I have never seen a collection like it!